Adaptive PID for controlling a quadrotor in a virtual outdoor scenario: Simulation study

The main purpose of this paper is to develop a robust control methodology for unmanned aerial vehicles such as a quadrotor. A conventional proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller is augmented with adaptive K_P or non-adaptive K_P in a throttle input and the both cases are compared and analyzed. Adaptive K_P is suitable for a system which is subjected to parameter uncertainty, such as variation in payload or wind speed, as the algorithm is able to adjust the K_P gain of the PID controller so that they maintain robustness and performance. The performance results of the two controllers when applied to a quadrotor are demonstrated using numerical simulation.